So Hungary for change 79% turned out to vote — can it happen here?

On Sunday Hungarian voters were so eager to undo Viktor Orban’s authoritarian stranglehold on the country’s government institutions, regulatory authority, public money, and media that nearly 80% came out to vote. Newly elected Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s center-right Tisza party won 138 of the parliament’s 199 seats — more than the two thirds needed for a supermajority. Voters have chosen Magyar’s positions: judicial independence, electoral reforms, anti-corruption measures, cooperation with the EU and NATO. (Reuters)

Hungary’s 79% turnout was 10 percentage points higher than in its last election. Ballotpedia shows the highest US turnout since 1920 at 66% in 2020, putting Joe Biden in office. Can we turn out enough voters at midterms — always a challenge — to stop the environmental destruction, the blatant corruption, the healthcare and Medicaid cuts?

Nine million at No Kings 3, Indivisible survey afterward give hope

Each No Kings demonstration is bigger than the one before: Five million on June 14 at 2100 locations, seven million at 2700 sites on October 18, eight to nine million at 3300 sites on March 28 (Brittanica).

YGov Blue conducted a national survey for Indivisible about No Kings demonstrations during the first week of April. Three thousand voters representative of the US population were asked about their awareness of No Kings demonstrations, their perceptions of the Trump administration and the Democratic party, and their own current and anticipated involvement with political organizations. The findings give reason for optimism about civic engagement, about awareness of political issues, about growing resistance — particularly among young people — and especially about voting: 

• 94% of the respondents said they were very or somewhat likely to vote in the next election.
• 45% of the 18-29 year old respondents said they were very or somewhat likely to volunteer for a political or civic organization.
• 7% of the respondents reported participating in No Kings 3 in person, and 3% virtually.
• a third of No Kings 3 participants, and half of the 18-29 year olds, were first timers.
• 16% of respondents said they wanted to participate but were unable to, and 27% said they were very or somewhat likely to attend a protest soon — including 43% of the 18-29 year olds.
• Top reasons for participating included:
  • concerns about presidential overreach or abuse of power (68%),
  • opposition to specific Trump administration policies (51%) and
  • concerns about attacks on immigrants or civil rights (49%).
• 36% of the respondents said they’d heard a great deal about No Kings 3 and 42% had heard something. This held true across demographics and political affiliations, showing the protests broke through the media landscape.

Hungarians defeated their authoritarian regime. We have every reason to believe we can do it here, too.

Ready to get involved? We can help with that.

Have the latest outrages (the Trump-as-Jesus meme, blockading the blockade, plus whatever happened in the last five minutes) got you itching to take action? We have thoughts.

• Reread our newsletter — plenty of suggestions there.
• Come to IAVL’s bimonthly meeting on April 23. You’ll find out everything we’re doing and how to plug in.
• Help us get the vote out! Join the next WNC Votes! Canvass on April 25 and sign up for other GOTV efforts.
• Ron Katz’s Social Justice E-newsletter offers a Listing of Ways to Take Action and Be Informed. You can find lots of immediate state and local actions — phone calls, letters — that we didn’t have room for in the IAVL newsletter. You can also sign up for his newsletter there.

Now get out there!